Tweet
Manny Pacquiao's drawing power still growing
Manny Pacquiao's drawing power still growing
March 24, 7:53 PM
Pittsburgh Fight Sports Examiner
Scott Heritage
Amidst the post fight rumors of retirement, the figures for Pacquiao vs. Clottey were released, and showed that the drawing power of the Filipino icon is growing.
Some were disappointed with the 700,000 buys that the event attracted, but to the industry insiders, this figure was a resounding success.
Most pay per view experts were predicting less than 500,000 buys given that Clottey was a relative unknown and that the fight everyone wanted, Pacquiao vs, Mayweather had fallen through.
Looking at his other recent pay per view outings, Pacquiao has always had a dance partner who not only had a lot of fans, but also an exciting fighting style. Clottey by contrast, even to those who knew of him was known not to be a particularly exciting fighter.
Pacquiao vs. Hatton did around 800,000 buys, which was a lot less than Hatton did against Floyd Mayweather. However having been beaten by Mayweather, Hatton's stock had dropped significantly by the time this bout came about. Also Hatton is a huge star in Britain even to this day, always puts on a good show and likely attracted a good portion of the buys himself.
Pacquiao vs. Cotto did a more rugged 1.2 million buys, but again was helped significantly by Cotto's recognition to U.S audiences and popularity in his home country. The story was the same against Oscar De La Hoya, who again was a huge star at the time, even if he was coming towards the end of his career at the time.
Mark Taffett of HBO said of the event:
“It is a testament to the popularity of Pacquiao and the vitality of the sport, and it gives us great encouragement as we look toward the May 1 Mayweather-Mosley pay-per-view fight.”
“Fights like this traditionally do not exceed 400,000 buys,”
The buy rate for the Clottey fight wouldn't be anything to celebrate against a more well known or exciting opponent, but given that Clottey attracted a miniscule amount of those buys himself, the drawing power of Pacquiao looks to be on the rise.
A lot of this is probably due to the fact that he has emerged from once being a Filipino star and is now recognized across the globe. The big question is which of the two best boxers in the world is now the bigger draw, Pacquiao or his nemesis Floyd Mayweather?
Although Mayweather has achieved bigger buy rates in the past, judging which is the better draw alone is difficult because they have yet to face a comparable opponent. Their common fights are often used although aren't an entirely relevant comparison.
Both Hatton and De La Hoya sold more against Mayweather, but to be fair after he had beaten them their fights against Pacauiao mattered a lot less in the eyes of many fans, and he was expected to beat both of them. Hatton was undefeated going into the Mayweather fight, and Oscar's skills had diminished a lot less than they had done by the time Pacquiao fought him.
March 24, 7:53 PM
Pittsburgh Fight Sports Examiner
Scott Heritage
Amidst the post fight rumors of retirement, the figures for Pacquiao vs. Clottey were released, and showed that the drawing power of the Filipino icon is growing.
Some were disappointed with the 700,000 buys that the event attracted, but to the industry insiders, this figure was a resounding success.
Most pay per view experts were predicting less than 500,000 buys given that Clottey was a relative unknown and that the fight everyone wanted, Pacquiao vs, Mayweather had fallen through.
Looking at his other recent pay per view outings, Pacquiao has always had a dance partner who not only had a lot of fans, but also an exciting fighting style. Clottey by contrast, even to those who knew of him was known not to be a particularly exciting fighter.
Pacquiao vs. Hatton did around 800,000 buys, which was a lot less than Hatton did against Floyd Mayweather. However having been beaten by Mayweather, Hatton's stock had dropped significantly by the time this bout came about. Also Hatton is a huge star in Britain even to this day, always puts on a good show and likely attracted a good portion of the buys himself.
Pacquiao vs. Cotto did a more rugged 1.2 million buys, but again was helped significantly by Cotto's recognition to U.S audiences and popularity in his home country. The story was the same against Oscar De La Hoya, who again was a huge star at the time, even if he was coming towards the end of his career at the time.
Mark Taffett of HBO said of the event:
“It is a testament to the popularity of Pacquiao and the vitality of the sport, and it gives us great encouragement as we look toward the May 1 Mayweather-Mosley pay-per-view fight.”
“Fights like this traditionally do not exceed 400,000 buys,”
The buy rate for the Clottey fight wouldn't be anything to celebrate against a more well known or exciting opponent, but given that Clottey attracted a miniscule amount of those buys himself, the drawing power of Pacquiao looks to be on the rise.
A lot of this is probably due to the fact that he has emerged from once being a Filipino star and is now recognized across the globe. The big question is which of the two best boxers in the world is now the bigger draw, Pacquiao or his nemesis Floyd Mayweather?
Although Mayweather has achieved bigger buy rates in the past, judging which is the better draw alone is difficult because they have yet to face a comparable opponent. Their common fights are often used although aren't an entirely relevant comparison.
Both Hatton and De La Hoya sold more against Mayweather, but to be fair after he had beaten them their fights against Pacauiao mattered a lot less in the eyes of many fans, and he was expected to beat both of them. Hatton was undefeated going into the Mayweather fight, and Oscar's skills had diminished a lot less than they had done by the time Pacquiao fought him.
Comment